Table 2. Differences between standard DHS and MICS protocols and their potential implications for coverage measurement.

Characteristics	DHS	MICS	Potential Implications for Coverage Measurement
Sampling and survey design
Sample size per cluster	Rural: 30–40 women; Urban: 20–25 women	15–30 households	—
Construction of household rosters	All usual members of the household plus visitors who spent the previous night in the household. DHS tables on coverage measurement are based on de facto persons in the household (that is, persons who stayed in the household the previous night).	All usual members of the household (de jure household members) included.	De facto approach gives better representation of mobile populations. De jure approach is more consistent with selection probabilities based on censuses. Unlikely to lead to any bias, since response rates remain very high in both approaches.
Respondents for information about children less than 5 years of age	Biological mothers only except for anthropometric indicators and anaemia, which are collected for all children.	Mothers or primary caregivers of children under 5 living in the household.	Inclusion of caregivers means orphans and foster children are included in the samples for MNCH coverage estimates for MICS, and not for DHS. See Box 1 for implications for coverage measurement.
Reference periods for selected MNCH coverage indicators
Skilled attendance at delivery	All births during the past 5 years	Last birth during the past 2 years	The advantage of a shorter reference period is that the coverage estimates refer to a more recent date; on the other hand, the sample size is reduced when the reference period is shorter, which increases the confidence intervals.
Antenatal care	Last birth during the past 5 years	Last birth during the past 2 years	See above
Tetanus toxoid	Last birth during the past 5 years	Last birth during the past 2 years	See above
Initial Breastfeeding	Last birth in the past 5 years	Last birth during the past 2 years	See above
Exclusive breastfeeding	Youngest child age 0–4 years living with the mother	All living children age 0–4 years	See above
Postnatal care	Last birth during the past 5 years	Last birth during the past 2 years	See above
Birth weight	All births in the past 5 years	Last birth during the past 2 years	See above

MNCH, maternal, newborn, and child health.